Lohengrin: Swan Knight Bride

It’s no secret that I love a good secret, especially when that secret surrounds the identity of an individual. Much like my all-time favorite opera, Turandot, the German fairytale of Lohengrin is shrouded in mystery as to the name and origins of its central character. But my penchant for sworn confidences is only part of why Lohengrin reigns as co-champion for my favorite Wagnerian opera.

A scene from Lohengrin / Metropolitan Opera

Including the ethereal prelude, which felt like a cathartic sound bath under the spell of Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s rapturous orchestra, and the bated breath aria “In fernem Land” in Act III, I am moved to hallowed stillness by the nobility of the piece. The purity, blind faith, and exalted submission of the hero to a higher power elicits sighs of romantic grandeur from my heart. Perpetually, the opera inspires me to a greater character of soul. And while I have never been one to wear my heart on my sleeve, I think it can be veritably said that there is no female alive who does not inwardly swoon over a knight in shining armor, coming to the rescue of a damsel in distress. Myself, included.

Tamara Wilson, Günther Groissböck, and Piotr Beczała in Lohengrin / Metropolitan Opera

Before Lohengrin was ever scheduled to appear at the Met, I always knew what I would create for the occasion. Years passed before I could fulfill my vision for the opera, but my daydreams never waned. Finally, the moment arrived. Swan Knight Bride was the culmination of central plot points in the opera: the swan that tows the skiff carrying the knight to defend the innocent Elsa, who then becomes his beloved bride.
My idea was to assemble all these elements and blend them into a “Modern Medieval” look with simplistic styling. And so, the process began.

Creation

Starting with a proper foundation was important, especially since I had distinct parameters for how I wanted the gown to look. When I discovered the Sewist design website, I was in “dress dream” heaven. Below is the base gown I “designed” using the mix-and-match software offered for free by the company:

I loved the jewel sweetheart neckline as a sleek and stately alternative to a traditional Queen Anne neckline. Even with my customized pattern, I needed to do some additional fitting to account for my knit fabric and provide added stability around the pointed contours of the neckline. Taking a class from Katrina Walker on how to sew pretty necklines for knits paid off grandly as my heavy, slippery tricot fabric looked flawless after the techniques were applied. Thank you, Katrina !

Fitting the dress with a stabilized neckline

For the “knight” representation, my plan was to liberally bedazzle the shoulders of the gown with metallic rhinestones in a gradient effect as if some of the Grail’s mystic power had descended upon my shoulders. The plain gown underwent a resplendent transformation as each rhinestone was applied entirely by hand.

The knight’s “shining armor” in progress

What’s a bride without her veil ? Here is where I decided to implement “mein lieber Schwan.” Mirroring the gradation on my shoulders, my aim was to have the veil look as if feathers were gently floating in soft swishes. Originally, I was just going to gather several yards of an embroidered tulle, but after realizing the mesh was too soft and stretchy for a veil, I opted to extract the feathers from the mesh using scissors and a soldering iron and then attached them onto a more suitable tulle.

With all components complete, I added an oak leaf crown to symbolize the meeting place at the beginning of the opera as well as to lend a Medieval touch to the outfit. Swan Knight Bride, at last !

The crisply turned out neckline and the sparkle from the silver rhinestones made me feel so glamourous and noble.

With hundreds of jewels applied by hand, the gown’s decoration was a labor of love… but so worth it !

A Medieval gown cannot be without its bridal point sleeves ! Altering the sleeve pattern to include them gave me fits, but they were gorgeous in the end.

To Wagner’s Lohengrin, only one thing can be said… “I do !”

Toi, Toi, Toi,

Mary Martha

Cast and Credits:

Lohengrin ─ Richard Wagner (1850)
Live in HD air date: March 18, 2023

Cast:
Lohengrin ─ Piotr Beczała
Elsa ─ Tamara Wilson
Ortrud ─ Christine Goerke
Telramund ─ Evgeny Nikitin
Herald ─ Brian Mulligan
King Heinrich ─ Günther Groissböck

Credits:
Conductor ─ Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Production ─ François Girard
Set and Costume Designer ─ Tim Yip
Lighting Designer ─ David Finn
Projection Designer ─ Peter Flaherty
Choreographer ─ Serge Bennathan
Dramaturg ─ Serge Lamothe
Live in HD Director ─ Gary Halvorson
Host ─ Christopher Maltman

Die Zauberflöte ─ The Queen of the Night

If you have a penchant for fairy tales like I do, you’ll find genuine delight in Mozart’s final opera, Die Zauberflöte. Centered around a quest for truth and knowledge (and a damsel in distress), the opera is as noble as its hero, Tamino. Between stipulated testing and bravery of self-determination, I willingly succumbed to the dashing chivalry of the prince on a mission to rescue the princess, Pamina.

Charles Castronovo as Tamino and Golda Schultz as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte / Metropolitan Opera

If the pursuit of true love doesn’t tickle your fancy, the spectacular production by Julie Taymor (of “The Lion King” on Broadway fame) will surely elicit at least one or two gasps of wonder and amazement. The uniqueness of the costumes and puppetry fits seamlessly with the whimsical roots of the opera. There’s even creative comedy for those still unpersuaded.

Marcus Werba as Papageno in Die Zauberflöte / Metropolitan Opera

Still not convinced ? Perhaps a fearsome villain is more appealing to you and luckily Die Zauberflöte showcases one of the most despised in the bewitching Queen of the Night. While the name sounds like a beacon among the stars and moon, the wicked queen is far from harmonious and caused me a slight shiver, partially due to the most unattractive styling of the character’s costume and make-up. If there was any doubt as to whether the Queen could make a face turn later in the opera, her appearance alone body slammed those speculations onto the floor.

Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte / Metropolitan Opera

With the Queen of the Night singing the most famous aria in the opera (and I’m sure you’ve heard it, too), it was without question that I would disguise myself as this otherworldly being for my outing to the opera. While the Julie Taymor costumes are original and ostentatious, I didn’t necessarily feel they best embodied the title of “Queen of the Night” so I imagined my own vision of the character.

Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte / Metropolitan Opera

I had a long black velvet dress in my closet ─ that was a running start ─ and now I needed to accessorize the pitch black gown to fully realize its nocturnally regal potential. A queen needs a crown, right ? I thought so, too, and cut a pattern out of a corrugated cardboard box, spray painted it silver, and glued on separately cut star and moon shapes (spray painted and glittered) to the tiara. Silky black ribbons were used as the fastener. The Queen had her crown !

“But what else ?” I pondered. The idea of wearing various accessories whisked through my mind, but when I spotted a shimmery black organza printed with silver stars online, I knew I had found my answer. What could be more stunning than a floating veil of the night sky ? Using 2 yards of fabric, I gathered one widthwise edge and sewed it onto a hair comb. To the opposite widthwise edge, I drew arced lines creating a circular perimeter around what became the bottom of the veil. All raw edges and selvedges were finished and voilà ─ a veil ! Just look at how it sparkles in the evening breeze…

With all the articles combined together (including my long black gloves and jewelry), the outfit’s celestial beauty belied the cruelty of the Queen.

Psst ! This outfit also became my Halloween costume for the year. My bedazzled spider bracelet simply begged to be taken trick-or-treating…

As charming as the starry night, Die Zauberflöte goes down as my favorite Mozart opera. The music dazzles and the story is uplifting. But I’m a sucker for fairy tales, after all…

Toi, Toi, Toi,

Mary Martha

Cast and Credits:

Die Zauberflöte ─ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1791)
Live in HD air date: October 14, 2017

Cast:
Pamina ─ Golda Schultz
Tamino ─ Charles Castronovo
Papageno ─ Marcus Werba
Queen of the Night ─ Kathryn Lewek
Sarastro ─ René Pape
Speaker ─ Christian Van Horn

Credits:
Conductor ─ James Levine
Production ─ Julie Taymor
Set Designer ─ George Tsypin
Costume Designer ─ Julie Taymor
Lighting Designer ─ Donald Holder
Puppet Designers ─ Julie Taymor, Michael Curry
Choreographer ─ Mark Dendy
Live in HD Director ─ Gary Halvorson
Host ─ Nadine Sierra

Idomeneo

The brainchild of a 24-year-old Mozart in the spring of his career, Idomeneo embodies drama and torment on an intense scale. A Trojan captive bemoans her plight of wartime displacement. A runaway Grecian princess seethes with humiliation and jealousy from unrequited feelings. A father and king, crossed between the angry seas ─ and even angrier gods ─ suffers from the anguish of the cruel task that besets him.

A scene from Mozart’s Idomeneo / Metropolitan Opera

While the basis of the plot was heavy ─ the title king, after being saved by the gods during a disastrous storm at sea, must kill his own son as recompense ─ the music was quite the opposite. Comprised of a windswept coterie of strings and woodwinds, the score was typically Mozartian and showed the beginnings of his lauded career. Singing the trills of early Mozart was made to look easy as Matthew Polenzani gave a stirring performance as the king. His voice was unhampered, but his soul was not.

Matthew Polenzani singing an excerpt from “Fuor del mar” from Idomeneo / Metropolitan Opera

The women provided for some much needed romantic rivalry to break up the repetitious monotony of the staid opera seria format. It’s true─ the opera was far too longwinded and soporific for my withering patience as I reached my home well after 6 that evening. At least the textured costumes and the spastic mad scene provided ample attraction and distraction from my jadedness.

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  Nadine Sierra as Ilia and Alice Coote as Idamante in Idomeneo / Metropolitan Opera

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  Elza van den Heever as Elettra in Idomeneo / Metropolitan Opera

Loosely based on the lace and jewels of Elettra’s gown, I snagged a favorite from my mother’s closet and made a simple alteration. The bright blue dress, being 8 sizes too big for me, would have swamped my figure more than the devouring seas of Idomeneo. A simple fix, I ran a line of baste stitches up the back of the dress and, voilà ! The dress fit. My mother was horrified with my action, let me tell you, but I assured her the stitching could easily be removed as I promptly pulled out the threads after the opera was over and the pictures captured.

My headpiece was a borrowed transformation. Previously, the black glittered tiara sported red rhinestones along the top points and an attached piece of black lace.

Thank you, Aunt Countess !

First popping out the red rhinestones, I replaced them with standard white ones and added gold fan sequins for seaside flare. They coordinated with my dress and the mantilla was beautiful enough for a princess. In case you were wondering, I removed all the sequins and replaced the original red jewels before I returned the accessory to its rightful owner.

Isn’t that necklace fabulous ? It’s a Metropolitan Museum of Art (also affectionately nicknamed “the Met”) replica given to me as a present from Aunt Countess. I cherish gifts from travels afar, much like the shell necklace and pashmina shawl that I wore to The Pearl Fishers the previous year. While New York City isn’t as far-flung as ancient Crete, the necklace made a statement worthy of Elettra’s tempered fury and Mozart’s fledgling opera.

Toi, Toi, Toi,

Mary Martha

Cast and Credits:

Idomeneo ─ Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1781)
Live in HD air date: March 25, 2017

Cast:
Idomeneo ─ Matthew Polenzani
Idamante ─ Alice Coote
Ilia ─ Nadine Sierra
Elettra ─ Elza van den Heever
Arbace ─ Alan Opie

Credits:
Conductor ─ James Levine
Production ─ Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Set and Costume Designer ─ Jean-Pierre Ponnelle
Lighting Designer ─ Gil Wechsler
Live in HD Director ─ Barbara Willis Sweete
Host ─ Eric Owens